Richmond City Council proposes second referendum on One Casino
The Virginia city plans to give the One Casino project another public vote.
US.- Richmond City Council in Virginia is set to give the One Casino and Resort project another chance with a second public vote in November. The new referendum has to be approved by the Virginia Lottery and Richmond Circuit Court in order to be placed on the ballot in November.
In November 2021, an initial referendum on the $562.5m casino project failed to gain approval by just a 1,200-vote margin. Some 51.4 per cent of Richmond voters rejected the plans.
City Councilor Mike Jones said: “I believe the citizens should have an opportunity to vote on this next time. You can’t compare the deal. There is no comparison to this deal. There just isn’t.”
Councillor Ann-Frances Lambert commented: “Here in the city of Richmond, we are 90 per cent residential and 10 per cent commercial. At the end of the day, if we want to be so much like Henrico, we have to say yes to projects.”
Urban One’s plan is to construct a 90,000-square-foot gaming floor with 2,000 slot machines, over 100 gaming tables, a competition poker room, and a sportsbook. The hotel would offer 250 4-Star, AAA 4-Diamond luxury rooms, with the capacity to expand to 600 rooms.
Virginia reports $37m in gaming revenue for March
The Virginia Lottery has released its report on casino gaming activity from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Temporary Bristol and Rivers Casino Portsmouth for the month of March 2023. The state’s two casinos reported gaming revenue totalling $37.4m, down 2 per cent from February’s $38.4m.
Slots accounted for $27.8m of the total, while table games brought in $9.5m. Virginia law assesses a graduated tax on a casino’s adjusted gaming revenue, or wagers minus winnings, and $6.7m in taxes were paid to the Gaming Proceeds Fund for March.
